Olympiacos secured Imanol Alguacil's signature after outmanoeuvring Premier League suitors, including Bournemouth, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, bringing a trophy-winning philosophy to Piraeus following his historic stint with Real Sociedad.
Speaking exclusively to Olympiacos Roundtable, our sources understand that Olympiacos have appointed Imanol Alguacil following an extensive pursuit by Premier League clubs before the start of the new season.
The Basque manager replaced Jose Luis Mendilibar as the head coach of Olympiacos recently. The club applauded the 65-year-old for leading them to their first European silverware, beating Fiorentina 1-0 in the UEFA Europa Conference League 2023-24 final.
According to the information we received, English top-flight side Bournemouth had positioned Alguacil at the top of their shortlist to replace the outgoing Andoni Iraola, having tracked his incredible progress with LaLiga outfit Real Sociedad.
Alguacil’s managerial tenure with the Txuri-Urdin began in December 2018 and ended in May 2025. It was an era-defining stint for him as he led La Real to the Copa Del Rey triumph in 2020, earning the club’s first major trophy in 34 years. At the end of the 2022-23 season, Sociedad finished 4th in the Spanish top-flight standings, which was the team’s highest league placement in a decade. This feat helped Alguacil receive the Miguel Muñoz Trophy as La Liga's best coach.
Olympiacos president Evangelos Marinakis has undoubtedly delivered a masterstroke in finding a manager who carries forward the tradition employed by Mendilibar, as both of them belong to the philosophy of Basque football. Like his predecessor, Alguacil prefers 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formations, while asking his players for an aggressive attacking mentality and focused off-ball movement.
After leaving Saudi Pro League club Al Shabab earlier this year following a string of poor results, Alguacil was open to joining any club he wanted ahead of the new campaign. He has been previously linked with Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, both sides exploring him as a top option to lead their respective squads. The Cherries moved forward with Marco Rose, paving the way for Olympiacos to seal the deal for an exceptional coach.
Alguacil played an influential part in developing Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Oyarzabal, Ander Barrenetxea, Robin Le Normand, Beñat Turrientes, Jon Pacheco and Aihen Muñoz. He gave them first-team starts, significant game time, and worked to integrate them into Real Sociedad’s Champions League plans. Taking into account his track record with young players, we can expect him to provide a much bigger role to Christos Filis, Athanasios Koutsogoulas, Armando ‘La Hormiga’ Gonzalez, Gustavo Sa, and many academy players vying for a first-team debut.
The coach is set to appear for his first press conference as Olympiacos manager before the clash against OFI Crete.
